Alison, Lady Kerr (29 July 19159 September 1974) was the first wife of

Sir John Kerr Sir John Robert Kerr (24 September 1914 – 24 March 1991) was an Australian barrister and judge who served as the 18th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1974 to 1977. He is primarily known for his involvement in the 1975 constit ...

Governor-General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Molong Molong is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, in Cabonne Shire. History The name Molong comes from the Aboriginal word for 'all rocks'. William Lee of Kelso is said to have had cattle in the area by 1819. ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. She was known as "Peggy" to her family and friends. She had a brother named Victor, who predeceased her, as did her parents, Frederick Oscar (formerly Wehrstedt) and Florence Ophelia (née Jones).''Sydney Morning Herald'', 10 September 1974
"Lady Kerr's work in marriage guidance", p. 8
Retrieved 21 April 2014 She was educated at Domremy Convent,

Five Dock Five Dock is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Five Dock is located 10 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canada Bay. Location Fi ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and gained a Diploma of Social Studies at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

.Legislative Council of New South Wales, 17 September 1974
Death of Her Excellency Lady Kerr, Wife of the Governor-General
; retrieved 20 April 2014 A fellow student there was Margaret Dovey, who became a close lifelong friend and later married

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

. Peggy Worstead married John Kerr on 4 November 1938, in St James' Church, King St, Sydney, the same year in which he was admitted to the New South Wales Bar. In 1939 the first of their three children, Gabrielle, was born. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she worked with the Family Welfare Bureau and the Australian Imperial Forces Women's Association, and later Secretary of the Hospital Almoners' Institute. In 1945 her daughter Kristin was born, and in 1949 her son Philip. In 1954 she was invited to become a

marriage guidance counsellor The Marriage Guidance Counsellor sketch is from the second ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' episode, "Sex and Violence", first broadcast late on Sunday, 12 October 1969. Written by Eric Idle, it was also featured in the 1971 spinoff film ''And ...

, by the Rev W. G. Coughlan, the founder and first director of the Marriage Guidance Council of New South Wales. She did this work for ten years, later becoming a member of the Council's Executive Committee (1964–65; her husband was President of the Marriage Guidance Council 1962-63). In 1965 she suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

occasioned by a subarachnoid haemmorhage, which paralysed her left side and left her with a speech disability. However, she rose above these challenges to continue her work as a marriage guidance counsellor and to serve on Lifeline's Adoption Committee. When her husband became Chief Justice and Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales, she often assumed the role of spouse of the acting Governor. John Kerr was knighted in the New Year's Honours of 1974, and his wife became Lady Kerr. Shortly before his appointment as

Governor-General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Government House, Canberra Government House, in the suburb of Yarralumla, is the official residence of the governor-general of Australia. It is located in the suburb of Yarralumla, in the City of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. The house is set amid of p ...

. But her illness caused her to be admitted to hospital in Sydney on 22 July and again on 29 August.Sydney Morning Herald, 10 September 1974
"Lady Kerr dies after brief illness", pg. 1
retrieved 21 April 2014 Between treatments she returned to Admiralty House, and Sir John Kerr transferred some engagements there so that he could be close to her. On 9 September 1974 she died in the

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School ...

in Sydney. She was cremated at the

Northern Suburbs Crematorium The Northern Suburbs Crematorium, officially Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens and Crematorium, is a crematorium in North Ryde, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It was officially opened on 28 October 1933, and the first cremation t ...

later the same day, following a private service at St James Church. A public memorial service was held on 12 September at St James Church. There were formal tributes to Lady Kerr in the

Australian Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

and the

New South Wales Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Each ...

. She was survived by her husband and three children: Gabrielle Kibble, a town planner and later NSW State Director of Planning; Kristin Johnson, a psychiatrist; and Philip Kerr, a solicitor. Sir John Kerr remarried in April 1975, to Anne Robson. In her short time as a governor-general's spouse, Lady Alison Kerr had dispensed with the requirement for women to

curtsey A curtsy (also spelled curtsey or incorrectly as courtsey) is a traditional gendered gesture of greeting, in which a girl or woman bends her knees while bowing her head. In Western culture it is the feminine equivalent of bowing by males. Miss Ma ...

to her and her husband. Lady Anne Kerr reinstated the practice.Gough Whitlam, ''The Truth of the Matter'', p. 229
Retrieved 20 April 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Alison 1915 births 1974 deaths Spouses of Australian Governors-General Relationship counseling University of Sydney alumni